Bowling Machine

Bowling Machine

Designed to keep bowling balls at a batsman for practice. The bowling machine can help a batsman deal with a string of consistent balls that are of a certain line, length and speed. Also useful if there is no one to practice with; a batsman could spend all day hitting balls from a bowling machine.

How a bowling machine works

The common mechanism is the same, there are two large wheels that have rubberized coatings that are set apart just a shade tighter than the ball's size. These are known as mechanical bowling machines. They deliver balls of a few different kinds based on the change in speed between the wheels or by introducing a tilt to the machine.

Mechanical bowling machines can achieve fastballs, swing and spin. Seam bowling is harder as there is no way to know how the ball will enter between the wheels. Bouncers are also possible but that depends if the specific machine can handle such.

Pneumatic bowling machines use air pressure to deliver the ball, though these are more often used with tennis. They can however deliver fast, spin, swing and bouncers. Seam bowling is not possible as pneumatic bowling machines only accept tennis balls or the Slazenger cricket training ball called the 'Slazball'.

The rarer bowling machine

There is another machine which has a one-off, it is known only as the "Merlyn", created by Henry Pryor. It is a more complex machine whose internal workings are not public. It is known to be able to emulate almost any bowler and can bowl an over like them if fed enough data.

There is another element to it; the batsman does not know what kind of ball it is about to bowl making him or her rely on their instinct. The Merlyn was claimed to be able to bowl Shane Warne's famous leg break and the England team said their ability to play spin balls had improved due to it.

Comments

The price of a bowling machine is high in Pakistan. Bola is one of the known makers that one can find in Pakistan.